"I wouldn't go to work in NYC for 200K a year as an IT professional (back when I did it, before I opened my motorcycle shop). I wouldn't work in any big metro area for less than 100K as an IT pro. Screw the 2 hour commutes and hassles. Quality of life, you know.
Don't 'sanitation workers' in NYC get about 70K?"
Yes, but they don't get two months off in the summer, a week for Christmas, a week for 'winter,' and a week for 'spring.'
70k is just fine for New York City - we all don't live in 2 million dollar condo's.
That's my point. I have a building that houses my shop and a sweet apartment so I don't have to commute every day. My apartment probably rivals some of the 2M condos in NYC and I live here on the cheap.
I've lived in a lot of places and I barely got by on 70K a year in Frankfurt Germany even without paying taxes. I guess I have a champagne taste.
I live in a stupid redneck town (Roanoke, VA) that likes to think of itself as a city but the good thing about that is I can go out to a good live rock show or go dancing or eat in a nice locally owned (by transplants from somewhere else of course) upscale restaurant and not come home broke.
Tell me what I could do on 70K in NYC. Not being hostile, just genuinely curious. I know where 'deals' are, so I'm not some rube who just fell of the turnip truck. (Well, yes I am, but I'm a 'sophisticated' , 'nuanced' (barf) rube.) When you get time.